The Heart I Once Had
by qasoline
Summary: Quinn and Mary-Lynnette are boyfriend and girlfriend, and to celebrate their graduation and Mary-Lynnette's birthday there going to Las Vegas, but what happens when Ash comes along? And Rashel? Adopted from danielle-herondale.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N) Thanks to danielle-herondale for letting me "adopt" her story and continue it. The first three chapters are hers and the rest I'll be writing. Please keep an open mind because it's obviously not going to be all the same as the first few chapters, but I'll do my best. I hope you all don't think I'm a jerk that I messed it up or whatever. Lol :) Enjoy**

"Are we there yet?"

"For the tenth time, no!"

"But the sign said we're almost there!" Quinn yelled toward Mary-Lynnette, his girlfriend/best friend. They had been driving for hours and he was bored.

"30 miles isn't almost there, Quinn."

"Well, we're going 35 miles per hour! A mini van passed us! A _mini van!_ I just lost my dignity on the road!"

"The reason it's probably going faster is because there's only one person in it, Quinn. So there's less weight."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No, I'm just saying it has less weight."

"I'm not fat." Quinn mumbled and stuffed a potato chip in his mouth.

Mary-Lynnette laughed and rolled her eyes, "Very convincing, honey."

Quinn grinned and ate another chip. "You're a vampire, why do even bother to eat human food?" Mary-Lynnette asked.

Quinn still grinning said, "Why, trying to hog all the food, are we? And you call me fat. Just kidding, Mare!" Quinn added the last part quickly after getting a death glare from Mary-Lynnette.

"You're such an ass, Quinn." _But a hot one_, Mary-Lynnette thought distantly looking over at her gorgeous black haired, black eyed boyfriend.

Quinn turned to Mary-Lynnette with a smirk. "I heard that."

"Stay out of my mind, you mind rapist!" Mary-Lynnette shouted, blushing.

"You know you love it, and besides at least I didn't tell anyone what you were thinking in gym class when I had to take off my shirt––"

"Okay, Quinn! I get it! You're a 400 year-old bad ass vampire!" Mary-Lynnette shouted cutting Quinn off before he could remind her.

"Well to be specific I'm 372 years-old."

"Oh and that's so much better." Mary-Lynnette mumbled.

"Yup." Quinn said and grinned. "Hey remember how we met?" he asked a couple minutes later.

"That's kind of random, but yeah why?" Mary-Lynnette said looking over at Quinn hoping to see anything that would give him a reason to bring it up.

"No reason, just trying to make conversation, since I'm about ready to die of boredom in this Goddess forsaken car." he replied, and started talking about something else, but Mary-Lynnette stopped listening, she started remembering how they met. . .

**Flashback **

Mary-Lynnette walked into her new and favorite class for the semester, astronomy class. She walked toward a desk near her friend, Bunny. As the bell rang, Quinn came in and rushed to his seat.

He had been a new student about a month ago, but since then he had become the most popular and wanted guy at school. Mary-Lynnette didn't know him and didn't really care if she did.

A second after Quinn sat down the teacher, Mr. Craig, walked in. "Okay class today is the first day, and we're getting started right away. The first thing you'll be doing in this class an astronomy project and essay that explains our solar system. It also must be done with a partner." When everyone linked eyes with their friends he added, "You're picking names out of a hat."

Everyone groaned, but got up to go pick a name. By the time Mare got up there, there were only three people who could be her partner, Quinn, a blonde girl whose name Mary-Lynnette was not sure of, or a guy named Josh. Mare didn't want any of them, so she reached her hand in the hat with some hesitation.

When she pulled the piece of paper it said, Quinn. _Oh come on!_ She thought distantly and turned toward her new astronomy partner. She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"I know I'm amazingly good looking, but usually when people check me out they make it less obvious." Quinn said with a sly grin.

Mary-Lynnette rolled her eyes, "Just pick a spot to sit at so we can start the project."

**End of Flashback**

"Umm, Mary-Lynnette? Have you been listening to anything I've been saying for the past 3 minutes?" Quinn said waving his hand in Mary-Lynnette's face.

She blinked, "Oh umm yeah. . ?"

"Sure, so what did I say then?" Quinn asked her.

"Umm, something about . . . okay I don't know." Mary-Lynnette said and sighed.

Quinn smiled, "I knew it. I was talking about my friend Ash, the one we're meeting in Las Vegas. He's not exactly fond of humans, but I told him to be nice."

Mary-Lynnette grimaced at that. "Oh yeah, you told me about him, the same Ash that is a player, asshat, and a jerk?"

Quinn laughed, "Yup that Ash. But be warned, he doesn't like humans. Like he _really_ doesn't like humans."

"Oh how exciting, I can't wait." Mary-Lynnette said with heavy sarcasm.

Quinn laughed. "Mare! It said 15 more miles! Hell yeah, we're almost there."

Mary-Lynnette sighed, "Whatever you say Quinn."

Ash got up from the poker game. "I got to get going boys." He said and pulled out his keys.

"Man the game was just getting good. How come you got to go, Redfern?" His lamia friend Adrian said.

"I'm meeting a friend and his lady friend on the Strip." Ash responded.

"Which friend?" Adrian asked.

"Quinn."

"Ah, Quinn. Who is seeing this time? Lamia? Witch? Please don't tell me werewolf." Adrian said werewolf with distaste.

Ash hesitated for a moment remembering what Quinn had told him.

"_She's a human, Ash."_

_Ash eyes widened. "A _human_ girl, Quinn?_

"_Yeah, but don't tell anyone. No one can know. It's against the law, and you know that."_

"_Only if you're in love with her . . ._ Quinn!_ You're kidding!" Ash yelled into his phone._

"_No, I'm not. I love her Ash, and if you're really my best friend, you won't tell anyone." Quinn said in a serious voice._

"_Ugh fine. I got to go, bye." Ash grumbled and shut his cell phone._

Ash looked up and said smoothly, "Oh no, it's a shapeshifter girl."

"Oh, well, later Ash." Adrian said and waved.

"Later." Ash said and walked out of the bar, going toward the Strip. _Fuck my life._ Ash thought distantly. _I'm going to hate this. It's just going to be Quinn and his human girlfriend. This week is going to be so boring._ But Ash had no idea how wrong he was.


	2. Chapter 2

Mary-Lynnette rolled her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour. "Oh my god, Mare we're finally in Las Vegas!" Quinn yelled pressing his face against the glass window. "There's the Eiffel Tower! And Caesar's Palace! And a blimp!"

"You see blimps everywhere Quinn." Mary-Lynnette said laughing.

"Yeah, but this ones in Vegas." Quinn said excitedly.

Mary-Lynnette laughed again. "So true."

"I wonder if we can go see Thierry…" Quinn said looking towards a bunch of mansions on the side of the rode.

"Isn't Thierry that Lord in the Night World you told me about?" Mary-Lynnette asked.

"Yeah, before I went to Briar Creek he and I used to play poker on Fridays." Quinn said, but he shifted uncomfortably at the mention of going to Briar Creek. _I wonder why. . ._ Mary-Lynnette thought distantly but let it go.

"And isn't Thierry the one who just found his soulmate, Hannah?"

"Yeah, I found out that Hannah killed the first vampire ever, Maya, because she was tired of Maya killing her every time Thierry got close to her in very life time, and thought she needed to be stopped." Quinn said.

Mary-Lynnette nodded and asked in almost a whisper. "Quinn?"

Quinn looked up, "Yeah, Mare?"

"What if . . . you found your soulmate? Would you go with her . . .?" Mary-Lynnette asked hesitantly.

Quinn reached over intertwined his fingers with Mary-Lynnette's. "You want to know something?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Last time I talked to Thierry, he asked me same thing when I brought you up. And I said I wouldn't leave you for anything. And he said he figured, because not all soulmates end up together. His exact words were 'yes, your soulmate is made for you, that doesn't mean you have to be with them.' and I believe him, nothing can make me leave you, Mary-Lynnette. I love you." Quinn said.

"I love you too, Quinn." Mary-Lynnette said back with a small smile.

After a couple of minutes of just them holding hands and thinking in silence Quinn asked. "Hey want to stop for something to eat? I'll text Ash to meet us at this diner."

Mary-Lynnette nodded. "Sure."

*.*.*

Mary-Lynnette and Quinn got inside the diner and sat in a booth. "I'm going to go get us some food, okay?" Quinn said with a smile.

Mary-Lynnette grinned. "I'm surprised you're still hungry, you ate all my chips . . . and drank my Rockstar."

Quinn grinned back. "And ate your candy."

"You ate my candy?"

"I'll be right back." Quinn said, winked, and walked away.

Mary-Lynnette looked back down and got her phone out to text her friend that she had made it to Vegas. Then she heard someone ask, "Hello there, is this seat taken?"

Mary-Lynnette looked up and saw a very good looking ash-blonde hair boy with blue eyes, she looked it him and he was around her age and had slightly tilted eyes. _His eyes are so pretty––wait weren't they just blue?_ Mary-Lynnette noticed his sky blue eyes were now an emerald green and now a weird shade of violet.

But when Mary-Lynnette saw the look on his face and knew right away what kind of guy he was. He had the signature _I'm a player_ smile and _I'm hot_ posture.

"Yes and so will this one if you sit in it." Mary-Lynnette said sweetly.

The boy raised his eyebrows, but maintained his smile. "You're feisty. I like feisty." He said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Go away." Mary-Lynnette said through her teeth. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend."

The boy, well, the douche as Mary-Lynnette now thought of him as, looked slightly taken aback, but still stood there. "Well ditch him, I can bet I'm better––"

"Ash?" Quinn appeared behind the douche.

_You have to be kidding_, Mary-Lynnette thought. _This is Ash?_

"Quinn! What's up?" Ash asked.

"I see you've met Mary-Lynnette." Quinn said looked between Ash and Mary-Lynnette. Ash spit out the water he had just drunk from the water bottle Quinn had handed him.

"This is your girlfriend?" Ash asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah. Mary-Lynnette if hasn't already introduced himself, this is Ash Redfern. My best friend that I said we'd meet here. Ash, this is my girlfriend, Mary-Lynnette Carter." Quinn said.

Mary-Lynnette nodded and said flatly, "Hi Ash."

Ash looked back at her with a charming and said with charisma, "Hello Mary-Lynnette." and held out his hand.

Mary-Lynnette just stared at it. "Well, should we be heading to the hotel?" she turned and asked Quinn.

Quinn nodded and smiled, "Sure let's go."

Ash scanned Mary-Lynnette over as she walked to the car with Quinn.

_Maybe this week won't be too bad._ Ash thought to himself. And when they got to 'The Luxor' he couldn't stop staring at Mary-Lynnette. He thought her long dark hair and clear blue made her irresistible to him. But he scolded himself.

_It's Quinn's girlfriend, Redfern_. _Get that through your head._ Ash thought to himself, but even after he got to his room, promising to meet up with Quinn and Mary-Lynnette later, he couldn't stop thinking about his best friend's girlfriend.


	3. Chapter 3

"So what do you think of Ash?"

Mary-Lynnette turned over to look at Quinn on the bed they were both laying on. "Sorry to say this honey but, he looks like a jerk." she replied.

"He's really not Mare, you just have to get to know him first." Quinn said with a smile. Mary-Lynnette sighed and said "Okay, if you say so."

"Hey I think it's time to go meet him in the lobby. Let's go." Quinn said getting up.

Mary-Lynnette sighed again and followed Quinn down the elevator. "Anyways, just spend some time with him and you guys will be great friends." Quinn said when they arrived.

_I doubt it, Quinn._ Mary-Lynnette thought. "You know I can hear you right?" Quinn said with a grin.

"And you wonder why I call you a mind rapist?"

"It's not rape if you like it, babe!" Quinn yelled, making everyone in the lobby turn toward them.

Mary-Lynnette turned bright red. "I don't like it; I like personal space in my mind and everyone not staring at me, thank you very much."

Quinn just gave Mary-Lynnette a kiss on the cheek and looked around. "Hey where's Ash?"

"Right here, buddy boy." Ash said from several feet away.

"You're late." Quinn said with a smirk.

"Nope, you're early." Ash replied with the same smile.

"Something you never are." Quinn mumbled.

"Not unless there's alcohol involved." Ash said and turned toward Mary-Lynnette. "Hello feisty."

"That's a dog name." Mary-Lynnette said glaring at Ash.

"My apologies miss."

Quinn looked between the two and asked, "Okay ready to go?"

Mary-Lynnette was about say yes when she remembered she forgot her cell phone upstairs. "Quinn, I'm going to run up and get my cell phone, be right back." she said and jogged to the elevator.

Once she was out of ear-shot, Quinn turned toward Ash and said. "Dude, please try to be nice to her."

Ash looked over at Quinn, "Okay jeez, I was messing around."

"Okay thanks. Hey there's something I need to talk to you about." Quinn said.

"What about, my very old friend?"

Quinn ignored him and said, "I'm going to ask Mary-Lynnette to marry me at her birthday party in a couple days, and I want you to be the best man."

For a whole second Ash stayed quiet with his mouth open, then said "_Marry her?_ You do realize that you stay eighteen forever and she doesn't right?"

"I know that. We've talked about it, and she says she'd be okay with becoming a vampire." Quinn said the last part quietly.

"Well have you even picked out a ring?"

"Yeah, here it is." said Quinn pulling a black satin box from his pocket. Ash took it from his hands and opened it. It had a silver band with a square diamond in the middle with a row of diamonds on both sides of it. Inside it had the inscription 'I'll love you forever'.

"Well good luck to you mah man." Ash said after giving the ring back to Quinn so he could put it back in his pocket. "Oh and have fun with the Daybreakers. Since it's my best guess that's where you'll be staying afterwards..?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, I've already talked to Thierry. Anyways, there's another reason I'm telling you this besides the fact that you're my best friend."

Ash placed a hand over his heart and acted offended. "And what may that be?"

"Well she doesn't know I'm throwing her a birthday party. It's a surprise, so the next couple days I'm going to be really busy with the planning so I'm going to need you to keep her busy." Quinn said.

"I figured the girl would be the one doing this not the guy, but whatever you say." Ash said and looked up seeing Mary-Lynnette walked back toward the boys.

Mary-Lynnette smiled and Quinn and said, "Ready to go?"

Quinn looked toward Ash and nodded. "Ready, Mare."

"So where are we headed?" Ash asked Quinn and Mary-Lynnette when they got into the car.

"We're going to the library." Quinn said.

Ash gave him a look like he was crazy. "Um, why would we go to the library when we're in Las Vegas? Is something wrong up there?" He said tapping Quinn's head.

Quinn rolled his eyes. "No, Mary-Lynnette just wants to get a couple books."

Ash glanced toward Mary-Lynnette. "Seriously? When you hear Las Vegas do you hear 'hey let's go to the library and get books' instead of 'let's go gamble and have fun'?"

Mary-Lynnette glared at Ash. "No one said you had to come along."

Ash sighed and mumbled, "Whatever, just stop by Krispy Kream so I can get something to eat."

*** 45 minutes later ***

"Okay so how exactly did you get the vodka?"

Ash looked up at Quinn from the bench he was sitting at. "I-I told you, the very nice looking clerk lady at Krispy Kream gave it to me after I told her she was damn fine."

Quinn shook his head, "Come on, Mare went inside the library and I don't want to leave her in there alone for too long."

Ash got up a little unsteady, "Why afraid she'll be kidnapped or raped in the janitor's closet?"

Quinn gave him a look.

"What? It's happened before." Ash defended himself.

"And you would know this because you are probably one of those people who raped them?" Quinn walked into the library with Ash following, or rather trying to follow him.

"It's not called rape if they wanted it. My chick really wanted it when she saw my beautiful self." Ash took another swing with the vodka.

"I hope you get caught with that." Quinn looked around for Mare.

Ash looked at the bottle, "Dare me to down the rest?"

"Dude, it's like two o'clock in the afternoon." Quinn tried to get the bottle away from Ash.

Ash moved it out of his reach, "It's four o'clock somewhere."

"Like in Tahiti." Mare said as she walked up to the two boys with two books under her arm.

Ash tilted his head confused, "Are there monkeys right there?"

"Ugh." Mare walked away, about to check out her books.

"Seriously, stop Ash. I asked you to cool it with the behavior." Quinn grabbed the bottle and threw it in the trash.

"You know best friends don't ask each other to change who they really are." Ash said sourly.

"I'm not asking you to change, just to ease up with the sarcasm and drinking." Quinn and Ash walked to the line where Mary-Lynnette was.

Mare looked at Ash up and down. Ash smirked, "Checking me out aren't ya?"

She rolled her eyes and raised a brow, "Done with the bottle already?"

Ash frowned. "No, Quinn didn't let me finish it."

"Because there's thing called public intoxication and if you get arrested for it, which sexy made vampire has to bail you out?" Quinn said to him then turned to Mary-Lynnette, "Ready to go?"

"Yup."

Ash started to eat a doughnut he had kept in a little baggy.

"You're such a fatty." Mary-Lynnette said snickering.

"Your mom is a fatty." Ash said finishing off the doughnut.

"My mom's dead."

Ash sobered at that and watched Mary-Lynnette get into the car. Quinn glared at Ash. "Was she serious?" Ash whispered to Quinn before he got in driver seat.

"Yes, Ash. Her mom died of cancer." Quinn said flatly.

Once Ash got in the car it was silent. "So where are we going now?"

"Well after Mare drops off her books we're just going to go to the park." Quinn said. "Oh joy. Again we're in Vegas. And, we're going to the _park_." Ash said.

"Yes asshat. The park, where people who don't want to spend their whole time in Las Vegas drinking and gambling." Mary-Lynnette responded.

"It's a great life style you should try it." Ash said with a grin.

"If it means ending up like you I'll pass."


	4. Chapter 4

The Heart I Once Had

Quinn pulled the car into one of the vacant spots by the park, sighing. Ash was complaining _again _about how club owners should stop permitting werewolves into his favorite party spots.

Mary-Lynnette snorted.

"Wow. Even vampires have prejudices. I can't say I'm surprised, though. It's not like I expect much more from _you._" She said the last word with disgust, turning her head toward the window.

Ash uncrossed his legs from the dashboard and turned around to glare at her.

"Har, har. Actually, it's not that I have anything _against_ werewolves. Just that… they're tainting my presence. And vampires are better. It's just the facts."

Mary-Lynnette rolled her eyes and stormed out of the car, bringing a picnic blanket along with her.

Quinn followed suit, grabbing Ash's arm along the way.

"Hey! Paws off, jackass!" Ash joked, but his lips drooped and he sobered up, seeing Quinn was serious.

"Look Ash, I know you're my best friend and all, but Mary-Lynnette is my first priority. I'm going to marry her, and if you're not okay with that…. Well, then I think you should just leave us the hell alone, alright?"

Ash stood there, arms slack, eyes widened slightly. His mouth almost fell open. _Almost. _He came to his senses, then. Clenching his fists and instantly regretting his words, he said,

"No, I'm fine with that. Your choice, right? I'm just messing with you guys, anyway. Don't get so worked up, Quincy-boy." He smirked, strolling over to the red and white checkered picnic blanket Quinn's soon-to-be fiancé had laid down.

Quinn also walked silently to Mary-Lynnette, grabbing her waist from behind. She giggled merrily, and spun in his arms so she could kiss him.

Ash scoffed, stretching his legs out in front of him. He carefully avoided watching the two lovebirds suck face, instead focusing his attention on an obviously ditzy blonde ahead of him. She winked at him and he laughed, throwing his head back and wiggling his fingers in response.

When Mary-Lynnette sat back down with Quinn he made kissy noises at the both of them. He was fed up with the dazed lovey-dovey vibe they gave off.

Despite this, he still felt uncomfortable when they broke apart so Quinn could retrieve the picnic basket they had forgotten in the car, leaving him alone with his girlfriend. He didn't even want to be in the same state as this chick. Alone, the two of them on a picnic blanket was just… out of the question.

Still, he didn't find himself backing away, or making any move to leave at all.

Instead, he gazed at her as she curled her legs to her chest and hugged them. In the slight breeze, her hair ruffled and she ran a slender hand through it in an attempt to tame her unruly locks.

He suddenly became caught; fascinated by her actions, studying every fluid motion. He had no idea why, and that scared him a bit, but he soon squashed the fear. It's not like any one had to know of his little… observations. She herself was facing the complete opposite direction anyway.

And yet, a part of him knew that something had gone horribly wrong here.

He had a perfectly willing, _gorgeous_ participant waiting just a few feet ahead of him, smiling and waiving, completely oblivious to what would happen if he actually _did _choose her. And here he was, staring at a barely adequate human girl who was taken. By his best friend, no less. What had gotten into him?

Quinn, reluctantly, made his way to the car, thinking of ways to murder Ash.

Because he knew, of course, that Ash's good behavior wouldn't withstand the afternoon. He couldn't have him ruining the only good thing to happen to him since his first love died.

He noticed, with slight distress, that he didn't even flinch when he thought of her; Dove. He supposed that was good, it meant that Mary-Lynnette was slowly healing him. But then there was always that little pang of guilt that came along with forgetting a loved one. If it was even possible.

He continued this, standing awkwardly at the car, when he heard the yelling.

"Yeah, how do you feel about that, scumbag? Not so much fun when _you're_ the one being stalked is it?" A feminine voice shouted form one of the many dark alleys that lined the streets.

He inched closer and peeked in.

"I hope you know that you deserve this." He heard.

He could only see the girl's back, but made out that she had a slender, toned figure, clad in all black. An equally dark scarf was wound around her head so she could stay concealed. She had a trembling vampire pinned to the bricks and was hissing words in his ear, whilst keeping her weight at certain points, leaving him plastered to the wall.

"Do you feel good?" she continued relentlessly. "Hurting these girls, I mean. Do you feel like a man? Like a big, bad vampire? I'll bet killing the innocent must be _very _empowering. I know this will be."

Out of her boot, she pulled a skillfully carved wooden stake. He almost gasped. It was a beautiful weapon, with intricate designs and a practical layout, which was clearly put to use often. Its beauty was tarnished all too soon, when it was thrust into the vamp's chest and drowned in blood. He was dead, but she wasn't finished yet. Interesting.

Next, what appeared to be a…. backscratcher emerged. It had four talons, which were dragged through the yellowing flesh of her victim's forehead as Quinn watched in horror. And silent admiration.

"This kitten has claws, dirt bag."

She sighed and turned around, seeing him for the first time. She stood frozen for just a second, and then swiftly tackled him to the ground, dagger at throat, knee to lungs. He wasn't fighting her, but even without his help, she could gain the upper hand fairly quickly.

"Jesus, how many of you are there today?" She growled in his face.

He smiled.

"No one else. But don't worry about me, I was just eavesdropping. I won't be any trouble, so I'll just be leaving then…"

He tried squirming away, to no avail.

"Yeah, right. You're a filthy parasite and I want to know who you're with!"

She dug the knife deeper and his breath slowed, fighting so his lungs wouldn't be crushed.

"I'm with…" A choke. "Circle Daybreak."

She, again, stopped moving. Then she got off him.

"Now I see why you had that human before and didn't hurt her." She said quickly, seeing the surprise in his eyes.

She extended her arm out to help him up and he hesitated a moment.

"I think your ideas are just a boat load of shit, but at least you guys don't go around molesting and feeding off teenage girls." She gave a short, forced laugh.

He smirked and took her hand, only to fall again along with the girl.

Electricity ran up his arm and down his back, paralyzing him for the time being. She, who did this to him, was gasping for air, ripping off her scarf. When she had finished and he had seen her face for the first time, their eyes locked, rendering them both useless in any fighting aspect.

Her eyes shined a fierce, proud green, in drastic comparison to his black ones. Her hair, just as he had assumed, was the color of deepest midnight, far darker than Mary-Lynnette's.

_Mary-Lynnette._

He pulled away abruptly and realized they had just been about to kiss. Everything appeared pink and blurry and he was confused and he didn't like it. How could he have forgotten Mare?

Horrified at himself, he began retreating, only looking back once at the girl who was his supposed soulmate.

He ran faster, clutching his head, murmuring desperate negatives to himself.

This couldn't happen. He wouldn't _let _it.

What were the odds? One in a million, obviously! _She_ could have been anywhere in the entire world. _She _could have been anywhere else. _She _who he was destined to be with forever, while her name still remained a mystery. She could have just stayed out of his life and everything would have been like always. But fate had other plans for him.

The only thing that he could think about that wasn't _her _was his true love, Mary-Lynnette, whom he had picked for himself. She was the one he wanted. He needed to touch her, _now. _Like his life depended on it.

Except, Ash was the one who was about to touch her.

His hand was a mere inch from her bare shoulder, and she had no clue that he was gazing intensely at her.

"What are you _doing?_"

**(A/N) Alright, so this was the first chapter that _I_ wrote and I really hope you like it. Review, because I will love you forever, good or bad :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N) I haven't updated in quite some time, and I'm sorry about that. Ugh, I feel so rusty. But today's Christmas (yay!) and I have nothing planned so I figured why not get something productive done? I plan on getting a few chapters done this week, as I've had plenty of time to brainstorm :)**

"What are you _doing?"_ Quinn repeated. Ash froze and pulled his hand back from Mary-Lynette's shoulder. He turned around to find Quinn glaring at him, which was amusing, but for what, he couldn't imagine. It's not like he had done anything wrong. Not anything _really_ wrong. He couldn't have known that getting involved with this girl could mean more than either of them could fathom.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, Quincy. I was just stretching." He stood up. "Can I borrow your car? I think I'm going to head back."

Quinn blinked. Then laughed.

"You really think I'm going to let you go off in my car?" He glanced at Ash's peeved expression and chuckled louder. Not a nice laugh, though. He was mad. "I think we should get going, too. Let's go, Mary-Lynnette."

Mary-Lynnette looked at him, bemused. She hadn't seen what Ash did, but it clearly had Quinn all worked up.

"We haven't even opened up the basket yet… what about the picnic?" she asked.

"It's going to rain anyway." He lied evenly.

She looked doubtfully at the clear blue sky.

"But Quinn…"

He kept walking away. She grabbed his arm, and he pulled away, with her staring incredulously at his back. She gathered her things and followed, albeit reluctantly.

It was a silent drive to the hotel, even with Ash in the car. Mary-Lynnette sat in the back with him; she figured Quinn needed some space. Ash didn't look at her.

Quinn went straight to the bathroom when they got to their shared room, leaving Mary-Lynnette to her thoughts. He was obviously mad at her. Or maybe Ash, but even so he was taking it out on her. Ash hadn't said anything rude to her after Quinn left; in fact they hadn't talked at all.

She knew she was overreacting. It was probably just some vampire thing that she couldn't understand. And Quinn couldn't explain it to her. It didn't sit in her stomach quite right. Maybe he was hungry.

She held onto that thought until it was her turn in the bathroom and she noticed three empty blood bags in the garbage. In the shower she thought, maybe he isn't so crabby now.

He was already in bed when she was changed and back in the room. Staring blankly at a wall, he didn't turn to view her entrance.

She got into bed and opened her mouth to say something, but Quinn was already glaring at her when she turned to him.

Quinn stared hard at Mary-Lynnette, so hard that she was taken aback and obviously thought he was glaring. He was still tingling from his encounter with his soulmate. It was easier to put things into perspective, now that they were apart. He had nearly cheated on Mary-Lynnette, and was trying now to feel the same sensation with her that he had with the other girl. Maybe… he could have two soulmates.

It was funny, he knew what he should be feeling, and just how he could, but it wasn't happening. Mary-Lynnette looked tired and sad. And she didn't give him shivers down his spine. He was terrified that he couldn't love her anymore.

He huffed and turned back away from her, towards the wall. He heard her draw in a shaky breath that made his eyes close in pain. He would fix this.

"Goodnight, Quinn. I love you." He could tell she was pleased her voice was steady.

"Goodnight." He said tightly. Her breath hitched and she sat back up in bed.

"Why are you mad at me? What's wrong with you?" She yelled at him. He looked smoothly at her for a minute until her breathing slowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did Ash do something to make you angry with me? Did I? You won't talk to me, and I say 'I love you' and you don't say it back. I've never had to say it first." Tears welled up in her light eyes.

He didn't know what to say, and he really couldn't feel emotional when everything was dulled. He was numb because he needed to be.

"Everything's fine, Mary-Lynnette. Let things be."

"Quinn, I can't! I don't know what else to do. You're acting like you hate me! I don't know which one of us is supposed to feel guilty, and I could sit and wonder why this isn't working itself out, or I could talk to you, which I am. I just…" Her speech died down. And by the end, he couldn't help but feel hurt. And he couldn't go to sleep knowing she felt so horrible.

"I don't hate you. I'm sorry." She still looked upset.

"The problem is you don't know what you're sorry about." It wasn't a question. And it didn't need to be. She was right.

He sighed "I know I hurt your feelings." He pulled her into his arms and she relaxed, even as he tensed up. This was a huge problem, because having this beautiful girl in his arms should have made him happy to the point where he thought he might burst.

She fell asleep eventually and he brushed hair away from her face. He would love her more than this, he promised. He owed her that much.

Rashel Jordan was being mean. She should have killed this vampire ten minutes ago, but it seemed she was on an adrenaline rush and decided to draw this death out longer than necessary. That boy, _that vampire, _she reminded herself, had done… something to her. She still felt high, and knew she should finish off this parasite but suddenly she felt the need to vent. To a vampire.

"I have no idea what he did to me." She said to her prisoner who listened carefully, waiting for an opportunity to escape that wouldn't come. "But I need to find him, I think. I have to. He… he… oh I don't know."

She suddenly got angry at her own confusion and staked the vampire. How could she be so naive? The vampire wasn't a Daybreaker, nor did he care about her in any way, shape, or form. So why did she? And why did she have to find him?

I don't.

"Oh, god." She said. I'm lying. To_ myself. _

She thought about staking herself sometimes. What did her life mean to anyone? She didn't have any family, friends… but then she thought about all the innocent humans who had no means of defending themselves. So she lived on.

She was sure that if she were to look inside herself her heart wouldn't beat, despite the thumping she felt beneath her shirt.

So back came the question of why she should care about the vampire creep she had encountered. She had watched him walk back to the girl. She had watched him yell at the blonde boy for almost touching her. This made her unhappy, but she felt okay when he turned his back to her.

_I hate her._ The thought came from nowhere, and made no sense, but she felt it was true. The girl was human, and not being abused by him, as far as she could tell.

He must love her, she thought absentmindedly. She had felt his mind and how he felt guilty about her and didn't understand at the time. Now she understood how he felt. If only she could be so sure of her own feelings.

She took her bokken and wiped it across the vampire's jeans. He wasn't too disgusting to be used as a cloth.

She went off to find her soul mate. She knew the stupid things she did would kill her somehow.


	6. Chapter 6

The Heart I Once Had

Rashel felt uneasy as she approached the nice hotel her vampire was staying at. _Her vampire._ Was that how she was referring to the boy now? She reasoned against it.

She didn't know how to go about this. The first option was to stroll right in like she owned the place, find the vampire, and demand to know what happened between them. Now, that option wasn't exactly ideal because of her awkward tendencies and how uncomfortable she was in such a high end place. She wondered what the occasion was.

Another option: waiting for the vampire to leave the building and trying to talk to him then; now that sounded easier, if not any less nerve-wracking. She tried to remind herself again why she was doing this and why she even cared about seeing this guy but she had this impeccable gut feeling that something very important had to happen here, and the other dark-haired girl with him was getting in the way.

Mary-Lynnette noticed when Quinn left early in the morning to go hunt or get ice or something, even though he tried to be quiet about it. He had really tried to regain some normality the night before, but she knew it was a façade and something was very wrong. But Quinn wouldn't talk to her about it (for what reason, she had no clue.) and she planned to find out, because if she was sure of anything, it was that she was utterly in love with John Quinn and a little vampire moodiness wasn't going to take him from her.

She had a feeling Quinn would be out for a while, so she took it upon herself to visit Ash's room and find out what he knew, considering he was best friends with Quinn.

He was still sleeping when she entered the room, and she found herself mildly relieved. He seemed so much nicer asleep. All of the mocking lines on his face were smoothed out and his eyes were fluttering like a child's. He looked vulnerable and very, very beautiful.

She didn't know where these thoughts were coming from, but she embraced them, and held on to the possibility that maybe Ash wasn't as cold hearted as he made himself out to be. She very much hoped so because maybe sleepy Ash could make better conversation than irritable, daytime Ash.

He looked so soft and vulnerable. She wondered what he was dreaming about, or if he was at all. And just how did he get his hair to stay so smooth all night..?

Ash awoke with a jolt and she realized with horror that she had been absentmindedly stroking his hair. She pulled back her hand, and it seemed unattached and foreign. She cradled it to her chest and waited for Ash to yell at her for being in his room so early in the morning.

And waited. But he didn't even say anything, so she spoke because she felt she needed to.

"Um…Well this is awkward but I really need to talk to you because Quinn just went out and he's been acting weird lately and he won't talk to me about it and I figured you might know what's going on because you guys are best friends and al and so I came in here and you were asleep and you looked so nice and.. not scary so I just came over and I don't know what happened."

She realized she was rambling, but she had a lot to say and Ash wasn't speaking so she might as well. Ash blinked rapidly and then sat up and stretched. She waited nervously again for him to respond.

"You thought I looked nice when I was sleeping?" He looked skeptical.

Whatever she had expected him to say, it wasn't that. She had just said it quickly, and didn't think he would pick up on it.

"Well, yeah," She said slowly, tasting the words as if she couldn't believe they were coming from her mouth. "I mean, you didn't look mean or sarcastic or anything. You just looked like a person, in a sense. It was nice."

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief but gave a small huff and smiled. Again, Mary-Lynnette thought he looked much better when he wasn't making fun of anyone or trying to act cool. She supposed it was just too early in the morning.

"Okay, so what's going on with Quinn?"

Quinn started to head out of the hotel, not too well rested and anxious about his feelings, which almost never happened. He wasn't sure of anything. As he was exiting the elevator, he knew the dark-haired beauty he had encountered yesterday was outside. He felt a small smile creep up onto his lips and his chest swelled in strange way.

Well, _that_ had certainly never happened before. But still, he had no intentions of walking outside and talking to her, did he? That would just reinforce everything he's been trying to escape. Who did this girl think she was anyway, coming to the hotel he and his girlfriend were staying at?

Girlfriend. Mary-Lynnette was his girlfriend. He knew this, and it sounded very inadequate, very bland. Now, fiancée might have sounded better, if the word soulmate wasn't stuck to the back of his throat.

Was it only two days ago that Quinn had told Mare that not even his soulmate could come between them? It seemed like such a long time ago now.

He shook his head and started to walk outside, against his better judgement.

_Everything has changed._


End file.
